Two key moments of inspiration. The first one was a flash that said “Holy cow. This is actually possible. Normal people can do this. I had no idea.” The second flash said “Here’s how.”

I had a great teacher in high school named Ron Lanza. He taught a travel-focused social studies class I took as a junior. Every week he’d bring in outside speakers to discuss their travels and show slides.  One attractive young couple made a big impact on me.

They said “We both work, so we decided we would live on one salary for a year, save the other, and go travel. We spent a whole year exploring Morocco in a camper van. It was a blast. Hash is really cheap there.”

They showed one slide like this:

I was enthralled. Ten years later I spent six weeks in Morocco looking for these inspiring tree goats. They were easy to find – they kind of stick out.

The couple had used this book “Vagabonding in Europe and North Africa” by Ed Buryn.

It was great read, and told me exactly how to start. The book’s basic point: it doesn’t take much money to do this. Do it now. Do it cheap. Don’t be afraid.  Adventures, places to camp, hitch hiking tips. A hip style. I read all his books – they changed my life. Thanks, Ed.